Medicare Enrolled

Dr. Azfar Sheikh, M.D.

Student in an Organized Health Care Education/Training Program · Houston, TX
Practice pattern: Clinical Cardiology — Primarily office-based clinical cardiology
Low-engagement
6431 FANNIN ST, Houston, TX 77030
7135006577
In practice since 2013 (12 years)
NPI: 1407295736 verify on NPPES ↗
Very High
DATA COVERAGE
Data in 4 of 4 federal sources
Measures public federal data availability — not provider quality
Informational, not a quality rating. This page presents federal public records about Dr. Sheikh from CMS (NPPES, Open Payments, Medicare Provider Utilization, PECOS). It is not medical advice, an endorsement, or a judgment of clinical quality. Always consult the provider directly and a licensed clinician for medical decisions. Read methodology →
Are you Dr. Sheikh? Request a correction or review of any data shown here. Provider portal →

What this data tells you about Dr. Sheikh

Dr. Azfar Sheikh is a student in an organized health care education/training program specialist in Houston, TX, with 12 years of NPI registration. Based on federal Medicare data, Dr. Sheikh performed 3,411 Medicare services across 1,866 unique beneficiaries.

Between the years covered by Open Payments, Dr. Sheikh received a total of $16,154 from 29 pharmaceutical and/or device companies across 199 individual payments. These payments are legal, publicly disclosed under the federal Sunshine Act, and common in student in an organized health care education/training program. Most payments are for meals and travel — low-value interactions common across virtually all practicing physicians. Patients may wish to discuss these relationships with their provider.

The Data Coverage level for Dr. Sheikh is Very High — reflecting how much public federal data is available about this provider. This is not a quality rating. Patients are encouraged to use this data as one of several factors when choosing a healthcare provider.

✓ 12 years in practice ▲ Top 5% volume in TX $16,154 industry payments

Medicare Practice Summary

Medicare Utilization ↗
3,411
Medicare services
Top 5% in TX for student in an organized health care education/training program
1,866
Unique beneficiaries
$125
Avg. Medicare payment
Medicare patients only (65+ / disabled) · Not a quality rating · How to read this →
~284 Medicare services per year of practice

Top procedures by volume

Ranked by number of services performed for Medicare patients. Avg. submitted charge is what the provider billed; avg. Medicare payment is what CMS paid.

Procedure Volume Avg. paid Avg. submitted
Chronic care management, first 20 min/month 703 $51 $100
Hospital follow-up visit, high complexity 381 $98 $301
Regadenoson injection (Lexiscan) for heart stress test 332 $45 $203
Chronic care management, additional 20 min/month 272 $39 $75
EKG interpretation and report 215 $7 $20
Electrocardiogram (EKG), 12-lead 164 $11 $36
Office visit, established patient (30-39 min) 137 $100 $321
Echocardiogram, transthoracic 128 $140 $495
Ultrasound of both sides of head and neck blood flow 117 $148 $485
Hospital follow-up visit, moderate complexity 115 $65 $199
Exercise or drug-induced heart stress test with electrocardiogram (ecg) with supervision and review by physician 110 $55 $194
Office visit, established patient, complex (40-54 min) 83 $146 $450
Rubidium rb-82, diagnostic, per study dose, up to 60 millicuries 72 $600 $2,358
Nuclear medicine studies of blood flow in heart muscle at rest and with stress with concurrent ct scan 69 $1,951 $3,014
Nuclear medicine study of heart muscle blood flow by pet 64 $137 $1,078
Principal care management services for a single high-risk disease, first 30 minutes of clinical staff time directed by health care professional, per calendar month 62 $50 $100
Telephone medical discussion with physician, 21-30 minutes 43 $87 $319
Ultrasound of leg arteries or artery grafts 42 $197 $606
Complete ultrasound of aorta, vena cava, groin vessels or bypass grafts 41 $126 $456
Initial hospital admission, high complexity 40 $140 $436
Use of a drug to induce depression of consciousness by physician performing a procedure (5 years or older), initial 15 minutes 39 $10 $32
New patient office visit (45-59 min) 34 $114 $419
Ultrasonic guidance for blood vessel access 33 $12 $100
Cardiac catheterization 32 $226 $2,631
Ultrasound study of arm or leg veins with compression and maneuvers 28 $132 $484
Technetium tc-99m sestamibi, diagnostic, per study dose 17 $630 $1,553
Nuclear medicine studies of heart muscle at rest and with stress and spect 16 $363 $1,190
Heart rhythm recording, analysis, report, review, and interpretation of continous external ekg over more than 48 hours up to 7 days 11 $216 $663
New patient office visit, complex (60-74 min) 11 $171 $557
How to read this data: This reflects Medicare patients only (typically 65+). Payment amounts are what Medicare paid the provider, not your out-of-pocket cost. A higher procedure volume generally indicates more experience with that procedure.
5.9% high complexity
22.8% medium
71.3% routine

Industry Payment Transparency

Open Payments through 2024 ↗
$16,154
Total received (2018-2024)
Avg $2,308/year across 7 years
Top 3% in TX for student in an organized health care education/training program
29
Companies
199
Individual payments
All payments are legal and publicly reported · Not evidence of wrongdoing · How to interpret →

Payment profile

Industry payments classified by relationship type. Not all payments are equal — research and consulting reflect different relationships than speaking programs or meals.

Meals & Travel
Food, beverages, travel, and lodging — typically low-value
$9,855 (61.0%)
Scientific / Research
Research funding and grants
$3,000 (18.6%)
Other
Charitable contributions, space rental, and other categories
$1,920 (11.9%)
Speaking / Promotional
Speaker programs, honoraria, and industry-sponsored educational events
$1,378 (8.5%)

Payment trend by year

Annual totals from pharmaceutical and medical device companies.

2024
$899
2023
$2,391
2022
$2,334
2021
$3,509
2020
$3,756
2019
$2,610
2018
$656

Payments by company (2024)

Consulting
Speaking
Meals & Travel
Research
Abbott Laboratories
$4,261
Boston Scientific Corporation
$3,693
AngioDynamics, Inc.
$2,979
Edwards Lifesciences Corporation
$1,334
Amgen Inc.
$539
Medtronic, Inc.
$488
AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LP
$454
ABIOMED
$299
BOSTON SCIENTIFIC CORPORATION
$270
Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation
$243
ZOLL Services LLC (A/K/A ZOLL LifeCor Corp)
$223
Merck Sharp & Dohme LLC
$198
PFIZER INC.
$181
Cardiovascular Systems Inc.
$166
Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc
$143
Philips North America LLC
$112
Regeneron Healthcare Solutions, Inc.
$104
E.R. Squibb & Sons, L.L.C.
$86
Impulse Dynamics (USA) Inc.
$58
Inari Medical, Inc.
$53
Arbor Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
$51
Actelion Pharmaceuticals US, Inc.
$47
CVRx, Inc.
$42
SANOFI-AVENTIS U.S. LLC
$34
Esperion Therapeutics, Inc.
$26
Amarin Pharma Inc.
$22
Itamar Medical Inc
$17
Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
$17
AtriCure, Inc.
$16
Top 3 companies account for 67.7% of total payments
Associated products mentioned in payments ›
(BH4) IGT Devices Undivided · AMPLATZER AMULET · AMPLATZER Occluders · ANGIOJET · AURYON LASER SYSTEM 100-120 VAC · AVVIGO Guidance System · BRILINTA · Barostim Neo System · BodyGuardian · CAMZYOS · CARDIOMEMS · COMET · COREVALVE EVOLUT R · CROSSBOSS · CoreValve Evolut · Dragonfly OCT · EDWARDS SAPIEN 3 TRANSCATHETER HEART VALVE (THV) · ELIQUIS · EMBLEM S ICD ELECTRODE DELIVERY SYSTEM · EMERGE · ENTRESTO · EPI-SENSE GUIDED COAGULATION SYSTEM WITH VISITRAX · Edarbi · Edarbyclor · Edwards SAPIEN 3 Ultra Transcatheter Heart Valve · Endurant · FARXIGA · FLOWTRIEVER CATHETER · General - Therapies · HawkOne · ILAB · Impella · JARDIANCE · LEQVIO · LifeVest · MITRACLIP · MULTAQ · MitraClip System · NEXLETOL · OPSUMIT · OPTIMIZER · OPTIS · Optimizer · PRALUENT ALIROCUMAB INJECTION · Peripheral Orbital Atherectomy System · RESONATE · RESONATE EL ICD VR · ROTABLATOR · Repatha · Resolute · S · SYNERGY · VERQUVO · Vascepa · VenaCure 1470 Pro · WATCHMAN Access System · WATCHMAN FLX · WatchPATONE · Wholey · XARELTO · XIENCE SIERRA · XIENCE V
Should you be concerned? Payments from pharmaceutical and device companies are legal and common — 57% of U.S. physicians receive at least one. They often reflect legitimate consulting, research, or education. What matters is whether a recommended drug or device appears in your doctor's payment records. If so, consider asking your doctor about it. How to interpret this data →

Most payments (61%) are for meals and travel — low-value interactions that are common across virtually all practicing physicians. Total industry engagement is in the top 3% for student in an organized health care education/training program in TX.

Equivalent to $474 per 100 Medicare services performed
Looking for a student in an organized health care education/training program specialist in Houston?
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Geographic Context

Student in an organized health care education/training programs within 10 mi
5,197
Per 100K population
109.2
County median income
$73,104
Nearest hospital
MEMORIAL HERMANN - TEXAS MEDICAL CENTER
0.0 mi

Data Sources

Provider Registry NPPES Weekly updates
Medicare Enrollment PECOS Monthly updates
Practice Data Medicare Util. Annual (CY lag)
Industry Payments Open Payments CY 2024
Disciplinary History — Not public N/A

This provider has data in 4 of 4 available federal datasets, with a Data Coverage level of Very High. This measures how much public data is available about a provider — not how good they are. How we calculate this →

Summary

Dr. Sheikh is a clinical cardiology specialist, with above-average Medicare volume (top 5% in TX), with low-engagement industry engagement in the top 3% of TX peers.

This summary is auto-generated from federal data. It describes data availability and patterns — not clinical quality. Read our methodology →

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Dr. Sheikh experienced with chronic care management, first 20 min/month?
Based on Medicare claims data, Dr. Sheikh performed 703 chronic care management, first 20 min/month services. Research suggests that higher procedure volume is often associated with better outcomes, particularly for complex procedures. Note that Medicare data only captures patients aged 65 and older, so the total practice volume across all patients is likely higher.
Does Dr. Sheikh receive payments from pharmaceutical companies?
Yes. Dr. Sheikh received a total of $16,154 from 29 companies across 199 individual payments. These payments are legal, publicly disclosed under the federal Sunshine Act, and common among physicians — 57% of all U.S. physicians receive at least one industry payment. Patients may wish to ask their doctor about these relationships, especially if a recommended drug or device appears in the payment records.
How do Dr. Sheikh's costs compare to other student in an organized health care education/training programs in Houston?
Dr. Sheikh's average Medicare payment per service is $125. Note that these figures represent what Medicare pays, not your out-of-pocket cost, which depends on your specific insurance plan and deductible. Procedure-level data above shows both what was submitted and what Medicare paid for each service type.
What does Data Coverage mean?
Data Coverage (currently Very High for Dr. Sheikh) measures how much public federal data is available about a provider. It is not a quality rating. A "Very High" or "High" level means the provider has data across multiple federal sources (NPPES, PECOS, Medicare Utilization, Open Payments), indicating a long track record of practice, Medicare participation, and industry disclosure. A "Low" or "Moderate" level may simply mean the provider is newer, does not see Medicare patients, or has not received any industry payments — none of which are inherently negative. Read our full methodology →
Is this data up to date?
Each data source has its own update cycle. Provider registry data (NPPES) is updated weekly. Medicare enrollment (PECOS) is updated monthly. Medicare practice data has a ~2 year lag — the most recent available is typically 2 years prior. Industry payment data (Open Payments) is published annually, usually in June, covering the prior calendar year. We display the data date prominently on each section so you always know how current it is. See our data freshness policy →
About this page

All data on this page is sourced verbatim from public federal records published by the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS): NPPES ↗, Open Payments ↗, Medicare Provider Utilization ↗, and PECOS. Publication is mandated by the Physician Payments Sunshine Act (§6002 ACA, 42 U.S.C. §1320a-7h) and the Freedom of Information Act.

This page is not medical advice, an endorsement, a recommendation, or a quality rating. The Transparency Score measures data completeness — how much federal information exists for this provider — not clinical performance, patient outcomes, or quality of care. Always verify information directly with the provider and consult a licensed clinician before making medical decisions.

Provider corrections: Provider portal · Privacy questions: Privacy Policy · Terms: Terms of Use · Methodology: Methodology

Data Disclaimer — Data sourced from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS): National Plan and Provider Enumeration System (NPPES), Open Payments program, Medicare Provider Utilization and Payment Data, and Provider Enrollment & Certification data (PECOS). Published under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). This website is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or authorized by CMS, HHS, or the U.S. Government. Data may contain errors as reported to CMS by providers and reporting entities. Payments from industry are legal and do not indicate wrongdoing. Medicare data reflects only patients aged 65+ or those with qualifying disabilities. For corrections, contact CMS directly. This information does not constitute medical advice and should not be used as the sole basis for choosing a healthcare provider. Procedure descriptions use plain language and do not reference CPT® codes, which are copyrighted by the American Medical Association. Full methodology → · Report a data error → · Privacy policy →